When communications devices such as stereo systems, televisions, computers, home theaters, etc. are to be placed in a room of a building structure, it is desirable to have the communication cable(s) leading to the equipment pass interiorly through the hollow wall structure to a position adjacent the equipment and then through an opening in the wall board to the equipment. A wall plate having a cable access opening may be mounted in the wall opening for extending the cable into the room and forming a neater look about the wall opening. This also provides a neater look in the room by avoiding the lengths of cable from being exposed in the room.
In the past, wall plates usually were simply flat plastic plates mountable to the wall over the holes in the walls, and the wall plates had access holes passing the cable(s) into the room. This formed a more “finished look” to the cable entry. However, when the hole in the wall plate was not occupied by a cable, or when the cable occupied less than all the space of the access hole, a person could see through the access hole in the wall plate and possibly see into the wall structure.
Later, wall plates were developed that have a cable support extension or “nose shield” that protrudes from the wall plate into the room, with the nose shield having a vertically facing opening that communicates with the horizontally facing access hole in the wall plate. The cable was extended from the access opening and through the nose shield and into the room for connection to the sound system, etc. This type of wall plate having a nose-shield has met with popular use since the nose-shield provides a visual barrier through the opening in the wall plate.
More recently, some electrical appliances, particularly flat screen televisions, are mounted directly to the wall, so that the protruding nose of a wall plate interferes with mounting the television in flat abutment with the surface of the wall. The wall plate can be displaced laterally or vertically with respect to the flat screen television with the opening of the nose of the wall plate directed toward the television so as to provide the least exposure of the cable. However, this arrangement does not hide the wall plate or the short run of the cable leading to the television set, and usually is considered visually obnoxious.
In addition to the running of communications cable to the communications equipment, a high voltage line that runs from the TV set or other communications equipment to a plug receptacle may be required. This is likely to present a similar visual problem for the home owner. The high voltage power plug receptacle might be displaced from the position of the equipment and the power line is similarly visually exposed.
It is to the above-described matters that this invention is directed.